In search of identity: trauma and irony in the cognitive light

Abstract

For many decades Scottish Literature has produced characters that fitted well within the atmosphere of despair and inferiority undergone by the Scottish nation in the course of its history. The question of identity being at its heart, Scottish Literature has revealed a specific feature consisting in the frequent occurrence of traumatized, dual and split personalities. These are protagonists who in the force of Scotland’s history are traumatized and symbolize Scotland’s remarkable tradition of despair and the feeling of inferiority and powerlessness. However, a closer look at the contemporary Scottish female writing permits to take a new angle for exploring identity. Our approach accounts for the role of irony and humor that the characters provide. The fact of incongruity / trauma vs. irony/ creates a basis for insightful explorations of the dual essence of identity in A.L. Kennedy’s and J. Galloway’s writing in the light of such counter-concepts as emotional fulfillment vs. isolation, feminist vs. domestic expectations. Thus, our research within the frames of “Caledonian polysyzygy” aims at showcasing how and in what ways the cognitive study of the ironic component can contribute to the revelation of different aspects of identity crisis and survival. The features of the expression of irony are brought out with the help of cognitive metaphor, hyperbole, comparison, etc. It is argued that irony is based on the author's vision of the world and is characterized by the presence of explicit and hidden meanings which accounts for the clash between the vision and the reality. It is established that irony, a crucial aspect in the works of the mentioned authors, is a multi-layered cognitive and discursive phenomenon that aims to highlight the collision between thinking and reality.